Canon USA is dealing with a lawsuit that may potentially lead to the brand changing an operational mechanism of its all-in-one printers. David Leacraft is suing the brand at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He has already filed a class-action suit, highlighting how Canon USA promotes its All-In-One printers as multi-function devices that can copy, print and scan while also taking care of fax needs. The issue, according to him, is that if the ink runs out completely, the scan and fax features are automatically disabled by Canon.

The issue has already been taken up by customers earlier throughout various digital forums and support pages of Canon. The company has always stated that the scan feature is disabled automatically for safeguarding the printer in question. Canon responded to one such query in 2016 by stating that the printer will not be usable till ink replacement. The safety precautions, according to Canon, were implemented in order to safeguard the printer from any possible damages if printing is tried without any ink. The printer makes use of the ink for cooling the print-head throughout the process. If there is no ink, the print-head may get damaged or service would be needed for the unit, as per Canon’s statement.

Leacraft has argued that scanning is a function that does not need printing and such an answer is not explanatory for disabling the scan function. He also talks of how it is a design issue for Canon. He states that Canon does not provide any warning or advice for buyers that ink is required for scanning or faxing their documents. Hence, customers often have to bear sudden costs and stress due to purchases of ink or alternatives to fax/scan documents with these All-In-One printers.

Leacraft is currently suing for a trial via jury and also financial compensation along with injunctive relief. He is also looking for an immediate end to the misleading marketing and promotional campaigns of the brand and wishes Canon to start a corrective initiative to tell customers about the problem. Canon USA has its own set of arguments and logical justifications for the issue. Time will tell how this legal battle will pan out. Till then, the lawsuit’s question is pertinent- will any consumer purchase a multi-function printing device if they already knew that regular ink supply was required for faxing or scanning documents? The answer to that is still unclear!

USA to get 3D printed housing units soon

While many global regions are going through a crisis in terms of construction material supply and skyrocketing costs, owing to the pandemic, real estate developers in Texas are already coming up with a new-age solution. ICON, the technology company that has already developed 3D-printed housing units for homeless citizens, has entered into a tie-up with Lennar, the leading builder. Their plan is to churn out 100+ units in the Austin locality of Texas. They will use technologies that will 3D print with the help of concrete.

The project may begin from 2022 itself, enabling quicker construction of housing units and more affordably too. Every home should take just one week to be built, owing to 14-metre (width) robotic printers that will deploy a unique Lavacrete concrete mixture. Five of these printers will be used for the process. Homes built conventionally with steel, timber and bricks in Australia may require 6-12 months to be finished in a regular scenario for instance.

The President of LenX, an investment entity under the ownership of Lennar, Eric Feder, has already stated that material and labor shortages are the biggest challenges that are making ownership of homes unaffordable for numerous families in the USA. He also added that Lennar has always tried to go beyond conventional boundaries while deploying technology and innovative ideas for keeping high-quality housing units at more affordable levels. 3D printing is an encouraging method as per Feder and he hailed the tie-up with ICON for developing such new-age solutions to regular problems. BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, the reputed architecture firm from the Netherlands, is the co-designer behind these 3D printed homes. They may last for a longer time in comparison to conventionally developed housing units. They can take extreme weather fluctuations while they will be built with considerably lower waste than conventional projects as per the Co-Founder & CEO at ICON, Jason Ballard.